I’ve got be honest here, I’m a sucker when it comes to romance. That’s why I write it and that’s why I read it. I mean, what’s not to like? That rush you get when that certain someone makes you feel as if you’re the only person in the world; it’s a pretty heady feeling. So I decided to look up the meaning of romance and this is what I found.

“A feeling of mystery and remoteness from everyday life, associated with love.”

Hmmm. Remoteness from everyday life? Associated with love, but not necessarily love. Most of us have experienced romance, and usually love is involved, but not always. So I got to thinking, if you can have romance without love, can you have love without romance?

February 2nd is my 45th wedding anniversary and in those years I’ve experienced amazing love and amazing romance, but not always at the same time. I’ve always felt the love, but as life happened in our marriage, when kids came along, and careers brought pressure, the romance took a back seat. Doesn’t mean I liked it, but between sporting events, dance lessons, music lessons; well, you get the idea, we definitely fell in the category of love without romance.

So, if I could only have one for the rest of my life, which one would I choose? The excitement of romance, or the tenderness of love? Id go with love any day of the week. Because for me, this is what true love looks like.

I had a terrible cold, and was miserable. But then so was my husband. At 3:30 am I woke him up because my swollen sinuses were making my head feel like a watermelon about to be smashed, and I needed relief. In the cold, dark morning he went downstairs and got me a decongestant, along with a hot, steamy rag for my face. And then he wrapped me up in his arms and for the next hour massaged my head and neck, until I fell back to sleep. There’s not a flower or a sonnet in the world that could have been more romantic than that.

And just for the record, I get up some mornings and find sweet notes in the coffee can! Maybe not the romantic notes I sometimes yearn for, but the ones that tell me all I need to know. After 45 years my husband still wants me, and that’s love and romance all wrapped into one!

This is a picture from our wedding, when we were young and thought the highs of romance would follow us throughout our life. And you know what? Maybe they did, because 45 years together is quite a feat, and I look forward to every one of them yet to come.

Until we read again 📚…

Blessings,

Dana L ❤️

💝The giveaway celebrating love begins on my anniversary, February 2, 2019. Be watching for the links and the #450202, and enter by sending Charlotte or Nick a valentines message through my website comment section. The WINNER will receive both of my romance novels, personally signed to them💝

Contest runs through February 13, 2019